Finding Hope

It was early in 1995 when I first realized the power of hope. I was serving a mission for my church in southern Spain. The language was not coming as rapidly as I had thought and the work was very hard. We spent most of our days walking, knocking on doors and trying to speak with people on the street. The main purpose of my mission, which was to teach people about the restored gospel of Christ, seemed like some unattainable goal. I remember I was sitting in church barely understanding the meetings when it hit me. I was going to go home. There was no reason for me to be there. I was not fulfilling the assignment God had sent me there to do. It was a waste of my time and squandering the resources of my family. I even went so far as to make a plan of how I would get home. This plan, interestingly enough, did not involve telling my companion or mission president. I was just going to show up at home. I felt terrible.

Since I have always been a procrastinator, I knew I would need to do some more planning. I went home from church as usual but with my plan firmly in my mind. That afternoon I decided to read the Ensign. In the magazine I found, by chance or inspiration, a talk by Elder Neal A. Maxwell titled, “Brightness of Hope”. It never crossed my mind that my real problem was a lack of hope so I started reading the article because Elder Maxwell was one of my favorite speakers. The talk immediately drew me in and as I finished with tears running down my cheeks, I knew that I had no hope. I had felt so defeated that I did not even dare hope for a change. That talk marked a turning point in my mission. I decided to stay and served the full time that I was assigned. After the talk, I felt an eagerness to try that was missing before. More importantly, it provided me with a powerful witness that God does know us and he loves us. I know that He directed me to read that article. I know He wanted me to stay and spoke to me words of comfort through one of His apostles.

All these memories came flooding back this past week when I saw a new website called "Finding Hope" that the church has put up. It was inspirational, especially in these times of trouble, to have a place to help us learn about hope and hear testimonies about how God’s love gives people hope. To any that may be suffering or feeling alone, maybe this site can help you the same way that Elder Maxwell’s talk helped me.